“And we still have lots of time to practice before the wedding,” he says, breaking me out of the memory. The tone of his voice has dropped low, and my pulse quickens at the way it rumbles through me.
“Should we just… get it over with?”
Jett stands up straight and turns his broad shoulders so he’s facing me now. I refuse to meet his gaze, opting instead to peer up at the swirling colours overhead.
“There’s nogetting it over with. Your first kiss Poppy… we’re going to do it right.” His large hand gently tugs my bicep, so I have to turn towards him now too, and my breath catches at how close we’re standing to one another. “Drop the blanket.”
I don’t know why he wants me to drop the blanket, but I let it fall to the ground and land in the snow, and I’m glad I don’t have to hold onto it now. There’s nothing distracting me from the way his brown eyes are fixed on my mouth, the way his hand has come to cup the line of my jaw.
“There’s no one around to see it,” I whisper, my warm breath forming a misty cloud in the crisp night air.
“That’s the point,” he says, his chest rising, his breathing becoming deeper. “Your first kiss shouldn’t be for publicity. It should be real. It should be about you, and the person kissing you. Nothing else.”
My mind snags on the wordreal.This isn’t real. Nothing about it is real.
But if I’m going to have a good first kiss anywhere,with anyone, I think I want it to be right here, right now, under the aurora with Jett.
He dips his head down, his tongue sliding across his bottom lip, leaving a wet sheen. I swear I can feel my pupils dilate. His eyebrows twitch upward, as if he’s warning me that he’s going to kiss me now.
My heart stutters as Jett’s lips part and then he brushes them up against mine, feather-light and soft.
He pulls away for a split second, a gentle tease that leaves me breathless and wanting. My eyelids flutter, but before I can open them to look at him, he’s placed his mouth on mine again, this time firm and capturing.
My eyes close as I take a deep inhale of breath through my nose, taking in the sensations, the taste of him. His lips are soft and smooth, his tongue warm as it glides over my bottom lip.
Whenever I imagined kissing Jett after we agreed to do this, I didn’t imagine it like this. Not soft, and tender. Notthis good.
On instinct, I open my mouth for him, letting him push his tongue gently in.
I don’t know what to do with my tongue, but right now it doesn’t matter. Jett has complete control, and I allow him to take it. I allow him to lead me, to guide me.
It’s what I imagine when people describe their first kiss being like fireworks, except the fireworks are going off inside my chest.
Jett is obviously practiced at this, but he doesn’t make me feel like I’m just another woman he’s kissing. For this moment, I’m the only one who exists to him. He makes me feel special.
I guess that’s part of his charm. It’s the reason women become so feral over him, so possessive, and jealous.
I guess if I thought any part of this was real, I might be possessive and jealous, too.
My body melts into Jett’s as he kisses me, slowly, languorously. It isn’t rushed. Now I know why he wanted to do it this way.
When he pulls away from me, it’s as if my breath gets sucked from my lungs, and the only air left between us is crisp and cold. I blink in rapid succession, trying to process what just happened.
I reach up and brush my fingers along my lips, like they’re somehow not mine anymore.
My first kiss.
I had my first kiss with Jett Landry.
Whatever I was expecting it to be, it wasn’t anything like it. The moment Jett’s lips met mine, I knew that my suspicions about him might just be right. There might be more to Jett than people give him credit for.
Because he looked into my eyes before he did it and made sure I was okay.
He moved his mouth as if he was handling something precious.
He kissed me as if he actually wanted to.
The problem is, I don’t know if that kiss was special, I have nothing to measure it against.
